How to fix C1554 power steering Auris 2007

[furtula]

I had the misfortune of this error code appearing on my dash 😕

Went shopping to few places this evening, all fine, came home and parallel parked the car.

In the meantime i replaced rear wiper and one rear license plate light. So i thought to give it a try.

 

I start the car, wiper runs fine, then i get this message on the dash. And it's dead, wheel heavy like it's a tank, i drove non power steering cars before, but this one was heavy, i guess they made different ratios since it was meant to be power assist.

Checked the Battery, it's not in best condition, but 12.4V is fine. I wanted to check the fuses, opened the box, but i got a bit puzzle as the location of the actual fuse, as it shows to be in this transparent plastic, but i cant see any fuses there. Are they just a metal piece, how to i take it out and check?

 

 

[Gerg]

That thread might be worth a read. 

I don't know about that fuse, but it's going to need to be a big one!

The electric power steering motor works through a worm gear, when you try to turn the steering wheel with the motor off the motor drag will be hideous. 

As the current draw of the power steering motor can be very high, if the power steering  connections (and earths) aren't nice and clean, then there can be voltage drops across these that might cause the ECU to flag errors, especially if the steering was turned suddenly. 

Even on quite new cars I've noticed headlamps dimming when cars are parking and maneuvering. 

 

[furtula]

Well the Battery disconnect did not help, so it might go to the shop at least to check the codes, since i don't really have the space here to do anything myself.

 

[furtula]

Since it will most likely be the ECU, anyone can confirm that the same part can be used from the same model, but with different engine?
I did a bit of searching and found it should be from 2006 until 2010, but i would limit my search  until mid 2009.

[mravikt]

Hello Dean,

I've had this multiple times with my 2007 Auris.
In my case it was caused by a short power surge/outage, probably a loose Battery connection. The power steering ECU seems to be quite sensitive to that.

What solved it was disconnecting P/S ECU for a few minutes - every connector on the unit.
To do that the dash has to come off unfortunately, otherwise reaching all the connectors is very difficult. 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Cheers,
T

 

[furtula]

Hello Tibor, thanks for the input.

I tried disconnecting the main Battery for 15-ish minutes, the connections are solid, but this did nothing. Diagnostic pointed out C1554

It might just be that, as i found in similar topic the same solution, the guy took it out, tested, seemed fine, put it back in, it worked.

I ordered the part already, and plan on replacing it during the weekend, and the original one i will try to test myself, as i saw it mentioned on the original topic that you just check for resistance, which i can do myself. If nothing, i'll chuck it to a friend who repairs electronics, he might be able to fix it, as it should be just the power relay.

 

13 hours ago, mravikt said:

What solved it was disconnecting P/S ECU for a few minutes - every connector on the unit.
To do that the dash has to come off unfortunately, otherwise reaching all the connectors is very difficult.

Do you think the problem is caused by bad connections?  That sounds more logical, as disconnecting the Battery would do the same thing, if the issue is not physical connection.

As for the power surge, i did quite a lot of maneuvering  when parallel parking before this happened, car shut down fine, problem occurred on next startup, some 30 minutes later, so it makes some sense there.

 

When removing the dash, can you avoid removing the pillars? I got some instruction and saw a video, they both remove the pillars.

[mravikt]

2 minutes ago, furtula said:

Hello Tibor, thanks for the input.

I tried disconnecting the main battery for 15-ish minutes, the connections are solid, but this did nothing. Diagnostic pointed out C1554

It might just be that, as i found in similar topic the same solution, the guy took it out, tested, seemed fine, put it back in, it worked.

I ordered the part already, and plan on replacing it during the weekend, and the original one i will try to test myself, as i saw it mentioned on the original topic that you just check for resistance, which i can do myself. If nothing, i'll chuck it to a friend who repairs electronics, he might be able to fix it, as it should be just the power relay.

 

Do you think the problem is caused by bad connections?  That sounds more logical, as disconnecting the battery would do the same thing, if the issue is not physical connection.

I believe the surge caused by a bad Battery connection triggers the malfunction. Last time it happened was on a hot summer day. Everything was hot so the bolts loosened a bit from the heat. As I turned the engine on, it started for a sec then stopped with total dark dash - complete blackout. Fastened the Battery connection, engine starts - P/S dash light on, no servo. I drove home like that, then took the unit out for a few mins, put it back in again and it worked.  Simply disconnecting the Battery didn't affect it. It had to be completely disconnected on both occasions. 

[furtula]

Well, at least i have 2 potentially working parts now, seeing as the one i ordered was used.

According to this guy, you need to remove the pillars, but this is on 2010 model, since you also have the 2007, is removing the pillars necessary?

The dash seems to sit on top of the tiny plastic in the corners, which are tied to pillars.

https://youtu.be/l1Cd1Ru7FD0?t=73

 

[mravikt]

1 hour ago, furtula said:

Well, at least i have 2 potentially working parts now, seeing as the one i ordered was used.

According to this guy, you need to remove the pillars, but this is on 2010 model, since you also have the 2007, is removing the pillars necessary?

The dash seems to sit on top of the tiny plastic in the corners, which are tied to pillars.

https://youtu.be/l1Cd1Ru7FD0?t=73

 

You need to remove the A pillar covers in order to lift the large dash cover piece. It's gonna be tricky at first as there are safety clips inside you need to unhook. They keep the panels in place in case of an airbag deployment. I used bent long nose pliers for that. Make sure you don't damage the airbags and replace the safety clips upon reassembly!

[furtula]

I changed out the part today and power steering is working fine, whole replacement including me going to a nearby store to get a ratchet extension and test drive took around 3 hrs.

Local store would have charged at least 2 or 3 hours for this job, so i saved around 50 to 75 GBP.

In case someone might need it in the future, i'm attaching a PDF file with instructions how to remove it.

Important detail about A pillar plastic removal, you do not need to cut the clips as suggested in the official manual. Get a long nose pliers, twist it 90 degrees, that would allow you to remove the plastic, and reinstall the same way. You can also see it in the video below.

This video was very helpful, as i managed to skip some steps with removing the center console, as it's not really needed. You just need to pull the silver plastic a bit to remove the lower glove box, in order to get to the passenger airbag screws  >>>>>  https://youtu.be/l1Cd1Ru7FD0

Another issue i encountered, disconnected the Battery before i started, so when reconnected after 2 hours, car started fine (I have a smart key), but the car would not lock/unlock using the fob.

This got me a bit frustrated after all the work done, so i checked if i can lock the car using the outside button on the drivers door, it worked, locked/unlocked, after that it was fine, i could even use the buttons on the fob.

 

Thanks to all for your help.

 

Don't know if these tags help, but does not hurt to add:

Auris C1554 , Auris steering ECM removal 

 

auris steering ecu removal.pdf

[furtula]

I went a bit further and repaired the original part, cost 6 gbp for part and 9V Battery.

The repair itself is not so hard if you have some basic electronic tools, and is only valid for C1554 error code involving the relay.

First, we need to open up the control unit. This is done bu unclamping the top part,then you need to pull up from the back side.

There are no screws here that hold it down, but instead some spongy adhesivy-thing (on picture below) that keeps the top part stuck to it, it may take a bit of force, but you cant break anything.

 

Once the top is removed, we can see the culprit, the 4 pin relay.  I wanted to test the relay just to see if it's actually broken. For this i needed 2 pieces of wire, a 9V Battery and a multimeter. Below you can see i soldered the 2 pieces of wire to the side pins.

The test is carried out in the following manner:

- Get a nice sharp knife, the whole thing is coated in lacquer, so you need to scratch out the parts where you will make connection.

- Switch your multimeter to beeping function

- Connect 2 pieces of wires to the Battery, the relay if functional, should click

- On the remaining 2 pins (left and right), put your multimeter prongs, the multimemeter should beep, which means there is a connection

 

The relay in itself should have platinum "buttons" if you remember the old distributor caps, it's the same thing, they get worn out over time. So it may appear functional when tested, but the components could be worn out.

Replacement in itself is simple, but time consuming. In my case the relay was CB1A-T-P-12V, around 3-4 GBP, depending where you look. 

For replacement you will need a good soldering iron, and solder suction tool. 

@FROSTYBALLS  can you please change the topic to How to fix C1554 power steering Auris 2007, or something like that, and maybe cleanup unnecessary posts? Thanks.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Done

[Josip]

Guys, you are awsome, thanks for nice tutorial 🙂

I removed top dash without any problem and now it's time to remove the cables and unscrew the ECU ( i guess it's so hard because u don't have space to unscrew the ECU).

 

Can you explain me how did you remove the main connnector, i'm affraid I will broke something 😄

 

 

[furtula]

I also had problems with connectors, they are pretty rigid, and i remember my fingers hurt after that.

You should unscrew the module, as it's quite hard to undo the connectors being it's so far to the front, hard to work with, and space is limited due to windscreen being right there.

The black thing rotates to lock/unlock the connector in place. I think there are some plastic clips holding it in place, so get a flat head screwdriver or something like that.

[Josip]

On 9/3/2021 at 2:18 PM, furtula said:

I also had problems with connectors, they are pretty rigid, and i remember my fingers hurt after that.

You should unscrew the module, as it's quite hard to undo the connectors being it's so far to the front, hard to work with, and space is limited due to windscreen being right there.

The black thing rotates to lock/unlock the connector in place. I think there are some plastic clips holding it in place, so get a flat head screwdriver or something like that.

You were right, after removing white plastic clips, I removed main connector.

But how did you solve the problem with replacing the relay? 

I unsolder the connectors of relay with a flux but the relay is really fixed and doesn't move at all:

 

 

[furtula]

I already had a replacement part which i installed. I took the original one apart to see if it's in working order, and it was.

Did you check the relay if it's working? You can just get 9V Battery and connect to terminals to see if it clicks. 

If i remember correctly, connect either horizontal ones, or vertical ones, to test.

If you want to take out the relay, you need one of those suction things that sucks solder out as it's being liquefied by the soldering iron, otherwise it's almost impossible. Or a heat gun (for soldering) would also work.

In the picture it looks like you still got some solder left there.

[kkottikas]

Hi all

I need your help please. 

I got C1554 error on my Auris 2007 a few days ago (diagnosed with a OBD tool). Took out the streering wheels ECU and found that the relay CB1A-T-P-12V was shorted. The multimeter was beeping when relay was powered or not. I have replaced the part with a brand new but the problem remains. Also tested a couple of omron relays on the pcb but those work fine. When I start the car, I can hear the relays toggle but the streering wheel is rock solid. Any ideas on how to proceed? 

[Josip]

I resolved it with replaced ECU from car junk yard which I found, mine relay was good, but something else was problem and I didn't have time to diagnose, it's much cheaper and time consuming to buy used ECU from car junk parts.
So I posted last time Sempteber 6. 2021, when I replaced ECU and still everything is fine.

[furtula]

The module itself is cheap enough for you to just replace the whole unit. I paid maybe 40 GBP for mine (but people now put crazy prices online)

Try to find it locally, should be cheaper.

In my case i put one from 1.4 diesel, and the steering was a little lighter, as the gasoline engine is not so heavy. 

You can change this via Techstream, but after 2-3 weeks i did not notice it much. The steering is heavy now as it was before, so maybe it auto adapts, or maybe it's just me.

 

[kkottikas]

2 hours ago, furtula said:

The module itself is cheap enough

well not that cheap......it is around 200-300 Euros either in local stores or online.... 🙂

[flash22]

If the main relay has fused would pull the motor, iirc these are brushed motors, so the housing can fill up with carbon dust from the brushes that can cause motor issues

[furtula]

On 6/9/2023 at 10:52 AM, kkottikas said:

well not that cheap......it is around 200-300 Euros either in local stores or online.... 🙂

Weird that local stores have used parts, but ok.

Decent price for module is like 40-60 euros, that's around what i paid for it, and that's what the prices were at the time. Just because others are inflating the price does not mean it's worth that much.

Try the local ads, and breakers, they should have normal prices.

Just checked the local ads for me, some were 20 euros, some were 80.

[kkottikas]

finally I found a replacement in a junkyard for 100 Euros. plugged it in and everything works!

Yet I have ordered some more relays from aliexpress. The (other) two small ones on the pcb (Omron G8FE-1AP-L 12VDC) for ~5 Euros. It will take around 6 weeks to arrive but the plan is to replace them in my original broken ECU and if the replacement ECU fails in the future I will have something to try at least.